I installed Myst on Windows XP, making sure to check Windows 95 and 256 colors under compatibility before starting the game. The sound, graphics and game movement all work smoothly. The problem is with animations, like Achenar and Sirrus in their books or the imager message from Atrus. All these animations show nothing but blank screens. Assume this has to do with Quick Time? I allowed them to check for that during installation, but after that they only said that Myst had been successfully installed.

Someone on one site I found mentioned that they had luck uninstalling their current version of Quick Time and letting the game install the much older version, but I don't really want to take the new version away from some other programs that need it. Is there another option to try?

You can try adjusting your QuickTime settings. Here's one suggestion (from the Riddle of the Sphinx website)

Quote:

1) from the Windows Start menu, select 'Settings' then 'Control Panel'2) Double-click on the 'QuickTime' control panel3) From the pop-up list select 'Video Settings'4) Click on the little check mark beside the 'Enable DCI' option to turn it off (the little check mark should disappear).

And if those options don't work, try turn off any options in the QuickTime Control Panel, just check the "Safe Mode (GDI Only)" in the "Video Settings" section.

I have no idea if this will work.I always play old games like this inside of Virtual PC -- or use the GOG version, which is updated to work with more modern versions of QuickTime.

Thanks very much for the suggestions, Jenny 100. Tried those QuickTime hints, plus one or two others I had found and still no animations. When Myst first came out years ago, all of its secrets, puzzles and challenges drew me into the world of adventure gaming. These days it seems the biggest challenge will be trying to install this now older game onto my computer. . Will try to find a download of Microsoft Virtual PC and hopefully that will be the answer. Thanks again.

You'll need a Windows 95 or 98 CD to install inside of Virtual PC. The OEM version of Windows 98 is best because it's bootable and you don't need the floppy image -- which makes it a little easier to install.

There is a great FAQ on Virtual PC 2007 and how to use it on the Metzomagic website ***here***.

It takes a bit of time to set up, but it's worth doing if you like playing older Windows games from the 1990's that have problems in XP, Vista, and Windows 7.

Jenny 100, Robert Gault, Kaki's Sister and Jarkeld - thanks a lot for all the good information. I downloaded the Virtual PC program and may still get it up and running one of these days, because I do enjoy playing some of the older games. If so, I will likely be right back here asking for help. In the meantime, I decided to try just one more QuickTime fix I'd come across, one that seemed too simple to work, but it did. Thought I'd post it here, just in case it might help someone else.

Install Myst. When it asks to install Quicktime, continue with the process, but SKIP the part where it searches for an older version of Quicktime.

That's all I did differently. Still don't understand why, but after trying a number of more complicated fixes - this did the trick.